Final State Fair Crit race report

This was an eventful race, so I thought I'd update this neglected blog. I decided to use the Powertap for this race, even though there would be hard accelerations every lap out of the hairpin turn. Turned out there was also a rise out of that turn, making it even more challenging! I seriously debated whether I'd do the 4/5 race because of the potential danger of that course. In the end, I decided to do both the 4/5 and the 3/4. I joked to Lynne that I'd probably get crashed out of the 4/5 race, so I always had the 3/4 race to fall back on.

I was just kidding. Really.

After a good warm up, I lined up with 67(!) other racers. The first lap I made sure to be right at the front, and the first time around the hairpin was fine. Things were fine for a couple laps, and I kept near the front, but then a rider slid out in front of me at the apex of the hairpin, causing me to ride right over his bike and get my foot stuck in his wheel. Grrr! No one was hurt, and I went to the pit for a free lap. Back in the race, I made every effort to keep at the front. After a while I was drifting back, but I was boxed in and didn't have much of a chance to move up. Coming up on the hairpin, a rider tried to pass between me and the curb and took us both down. Now I was really pissed! I decided to give up on the 4/5 race at that point. The second rider (Gopher Wheelmen) apologized after the race, which was very sportsmanlike. Interestingly, both of those riders were on orange BMCs!

The 3/4 race was great. Intention was to hang on as long as possible and salvage the day with a good workout. It was mostly safe riding, no crashes, and I felt really good. Not sure if it was the warm up in the other race, adrenaline, or just good fitness, but I stayed with the main group for the whole race. Most of the riders in the field were people I knew, so I felt more comfortable too. Photo from cycleture.

It was a really nice day; temps around 70, mid-summer evening sunshine, friends to hang out with. Although it started out crappy, everything was good in the end. Here's the power graph for the 3/4 race (the big spikes are coming out of the hairpin). This race reset my peak 0-2 second power.

Sunday is Northfield, next Tuesday is the Summit/Dakota series, then it's off to Colorado for two weeks.